4 THE KINGDOM OF MAN 



these different uses of the word Nature, I think that 

 I may here use the word Nature as indicating the 

 entire kosmos of which this cooling globe with all upon 

 it is a portion. 



3. NATURE-SEARCHERS. 



The discovery of regular processes, of expected 

 effects following upon specified antecedents, of constant 

 properties and qualities in the material around him, 

 has from the earliest recorded times been a chief 

 occupation of Man and has led to the attainment by 

 Man of an extraordinarily complex control of the con- 

 ditions in which his life is carried on. But it was not 

 until Bruno's conception of the unity of terrestrial 

 nature with that of the kosmos had commended itself 

 that a deliberate and determined investigation of natural 

 processes, with a view to their more complete appre- 

 hension, was instituted. One of the earliest and most 

 active steps in this direction was the foundation, less 

 than 250 years ago, of the Royal Society of London for 

 the Promotion of Natural Knowledge, by a body of 

 students who had organized their conferences and 

 inquiries whilst resident in Oxford. 1 



1 The foundation of the Royal Society of London is most intimately 

 connected with the University of Oxford. Dr. Wallis, an original 

 member, writes : ' I take its first ground and foundation to have been 

 in London about the year 1645, when Dr. Wilkins and others met 

 weekly at a certain day and hour. . . . About the year 1648-9 

 some of our company were removed to Oxford ; first Dr. Wilkins, then 

 I, and soon after Dr. Goddard. Those in London continued to meet 

 there as before (and we with them, when we had occasion to be there), 

 and those of us at Oxford ; with Dr. Ward (since Bishop of Salisbury), 

 Dr. Ralph Bathurst (now President of Trinity College in Oxford), 

 Dr. Petty (since Sir William Petty), Dr. Willis (then an eminent phy- 

 sician in Oxford), and divers others, continued such meetings in Oxford 



